Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

Author's Note: Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Anyways, thanks to everyone that's been encouraging me.

PLEASE READ ALL AUTHORS NOTES FOR THIS CHAPTER. THEY ARE PRETTY IMPORTANT.

Special thanks to Charlee56 for all the support and many reviews!

A few things I would like to clarify: This story will end with Ares and Percy getting together. The sequel will deal with their relationships and will have a lot more action with an actual antagonist. I apologize for this, but I had no vision for this story when I started writing it or else many of these chapters wouldn't have been written. Also, the end to this story isn't far - maybe eight more chapters? I'm not sure.

Second, Ares isn't married. I know he is in the myths, but that never happened here.

Third, I am ignoring all the children of Amphitrite and Poseidon except for Triton. None of them are mentioned in the books and so I'm assuming they've either faded or aren't important.

Fourth, Charlee56 mentioned that once an abuser, always an abuser in reference to Triton and Amphitrite. I didn't mean to portray them as abusive. They were angry with Percy because of the feelings of betrayal they associated with her birth. They only injured her to send a message, not to take pleasure in her pain.

I hope all that helps!

I have a poll on my profile page about what story you want me to write next that I would like you to vote on.

Chapter 34

Ares POV

Ares was walking through Olympus when a voice called to him. The war god paused and turned. "Hey, Aphrodite."

"Come with me," ordered the love goddess, skipping any pleasantries and grabbing Ares's hand.

"Alright, alright," agreed Ares, huffing. "Where are you taking me?"

The question was answered when the duo stopped in front of Aphrodite's white and pink palace.

The goddess ushered her friend inside and pulled him down onto a pink sofa in the living room.

"What's up?" asked Ares, thoroughly confused.

"You like someone," squealed the goddess, practically bouncing in her seat.

"I- What?" Ares's eyes widened. How the Hades did Aphrodite know?

She waved her hand dismissively. "You know what I'm talking about! I'm glad you've finally acknowledged your crush. The only question is: who?"

Ares looked away. "That's personal," he said, knowing that pretending to oblivious would be useless.

The goddess huffed. "Nonsense," she said tartly. "I'm the goddess of love. It is my business. Plus, I'm your friend. This is the sort of thing you tell your friend." She squealed again.

Ares stared at the excited goddess, unconvinced. "You're out of your mind," he finally said, "if you think I'm going to tell you. You'd just go running to her and tell her that I like her."

Aphrodite pursed her lips, admitting defeat. "Fine. Be that way. I will figure it out, though." She crossed her arms. "You can leave now."

Ares rolled his eyes at her moodiness, but flashed away to his palace, nonetheless.

Ares was trying to decide who to make the victor of one of the many wars occurring on Earth, when a bright flash illuminated his room.

He turned, expecting to see Percy - she was one of the few that dared to burst into his palace without previously telling him. Instead, he found Hermes, hair unruly and expression wild.

"Hermes? What's wrong?" The war god knew his brother wouldn't bother him unless there was emergency.

"It's Percy-" began the messenger.

"What happened to her?" asked Ares urgently, a pit forming in his stomach.

"She got badly injured during the Hunt. Artemis sent me to get you first, before the rest of the Olympians - said you were good friends or something. She's in the infirmary. Same room as the first time."

Ares nodded and vanished without another word. He reappeared outside Percy's room and threw the door open. A bright yellow curtain divided the room in half, concealing Percy from his view. Ares was barely able to restrain himself from flinging the curtain back and rushing to his friend's side. "Artemis," exclaimed the war god, clutching his sister's shoulders, "what happened?"

The goddess's usually impeccable silver dress was torn and drenched in blood, ichor and golden dust. "We killed the Minotaur, but it was a trap," she recounted. "Hellhounds ambushed us. We were taken by surprise and were unprepared. I don't know exactly what happened to Percy - I was with the main group of my Hunters - but she was wounded. Badly. Apollo's taking care of her."

Ares nodded, biting his lip. "Did Apollo say if she would be okay?" he asked worriedly.

Artemis shook her head, wild and tangled hair bouncing. "He hasn't said anything yet. Asclepius is helping him."

"When did you get here with her?" asked the war god.

"Half an hour ago," replied the moon goddess, "but she got wounded about an hour ago. It took a while for us to finish off the Hellhounds and then I had to hand control of the Hunters to Thalia. I tried to heal Percy with nectar and ambrosia, but she passed out and it didn't look like her wounds healed much - if at all."

Ares shook his head wearily. "It wouldn't have done anything. A couple weeks ago, she got a deep cut during a spar and tried to heal it with the godly food. Nothing happened. Percy told me that she thinks it's a side effect of drinking from the fires of the Phlegethon. Luckily, water still works for healing - that and the ichor running through her veins."

Artemis took in the information slowly. "I should tell Apollo. It could help him treat her."

Ares nodded, still chewing on his lip pensively.

Artemis ducked around the curtain and the war god listened to her speaking with her twin in low tones. The moon goddess quickly came back to Ares's side and began pacing.

The war god glanced at her, properly taking his sister in for the first time. The goddess seemed exhausted and worried - both about her Hunters and Percy. "You should go back to your Hunters and check on them," he said. "And then you should get some rest."

"I don't know..." she muttered. "Apollo might want help and-"

"And he has Asclepius, like you said. We can't do anything to help them, so you should go get some rest - before father comes here and tells you to." Ares smirked.

Artemis nodded. "Let me know if her condition changes. She is my friend and the Hunters have grown to like her, as well."

"Of course. Now go."

Artemis closed her eyes and vanished in a burst of light.

Ares bit his lip, suddenly unsure of what to do now that his sister was no longer keeping him company. Every drop of ichor in his body was telling him to be at Percy's side, but-

A flash of light interrupted his thoughts as Aphrodite and Hephaestus appeared.

"Ares!" exclaimed the love goddess, hurrying towards her friend. "What's going on? All Hermes told me was that Percy was hurt. Is she okay?"

Hephaestus had come to stand behind his wife, eyes reflecting his worry. He glanced towards the curtain.

"I'll explain it once the others are here," said the war god. He didn't think he could talk about it more than once.

"Of course," agreed the love goddess, though her eyes darted anxiously towards the curtain separating her from Percy.

In worried silence, the immortals awaited the arrival of the rest of their family.

A/N: I'm so sorry! This took way longer than I thought it would. I actually had all of it except the last hundred words done a week ago. You have no idea how many times I've rewritten the ending to this chapter. I'm still not happy with it. Anyways, I'm officially back from vacation(which included time to catch up on work I missed). It was awesome, in case any of you were wondering. Chapters should be coming out once a week on the weekend again. Although, I will warn you, I have finals all next week. My writing may by brief and terse and stressed and dark and... I'm leaving the rest to your imagination.

Anyways, I had no clue if my hint last chapter about Percy possibly dying would be recognized by you guys. I'm glad that you did. I'm stretching out the uncertainty though, because I myself don't know where I'm going with this... If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate them. I don't know if you've read my profile, but I'm completely out of inspiration. I need help!

I have completed Fire to the Rain, so please read that as well. It will help you better understand this story.

I have removed the only A/N chapter from before. I apologize if that causes any confusion in terms of chapter numbers.

Please review and tell me what you though of this chapter and what visions you have for Percy's recovery or death.

I have a poll on my profile page about what story you want me to write next that I would like you to vote on.